I'm in heaven! Gardening nirvana. I have a cold frame! And, pretty soon, I'll have another. All for the cost of zero dollars. That's right, we spent nothing on this project. Here's how we did it.

1. 2 storm doors scavenged from landfill.2. Lumber reclaimed from barn demolition.3. Paint from old fence project.4. Misc. hardware found laying around in the garage.5. Dogs also found laying around in the garage.6. Free labor. Ours.

In about an hour, start to finish, this project was complete. First, we gathered the material.

We knew what the finished size needed to be by measuring the doors. So we cut the boards and assembled the box.

The inspector came through to check our work.

Side angles cut and attached.

Back and supports installed.

Paint.

Installed hinges (4) to support the door.

Find a spot in the garden with southern exposure.

Insert cold frame. Done!

Time to get those seeds started! Do you have a garden project you are working on? Stop by our FB home and share! You can find us at fb.com/thepocketfarmer and we are also on Twitter @thepocketfarmer. Hope to see you there! :)

Looks fantastic.No one is allowed access to our landfill in our area but think sumthng lk thz cld be picked up very cheap.Noticed wn driving in screw in one pic, it wz done @ an angle..still trying to fig out how to use my newly acquired power tools. Thanks, enjoyed ur article.

Hi Danetta, don't be afraid of those power tools, they make magic happen! :) Try Freecycle or Craigslist for free material, lots of people are happy to have their stuff repurposed instead of sent to the landfill.

Sue,
What a great example of upcycling or repurposing! We managed to turn swaying cedar fence sections (that got replaced when the yard needed to be completely fenced in) into 5 raised beds, and there's more lumber to fit a cold frame. I'll keep my eye out for a storm door.
Thanks for the inspiration!

What a lovely project! I always lurk on your page; thought I'd tell you how much I admire your work. Thanks!

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Hi, I'm Sue Pranskus, and this is my sometime blog. It's mostly about my attempts to "green-up" my life. On our little farm we experiment with livestock, gardening, building, repurposing and anything else that we find interesting. Born and bred on the West Coast, I am living in the Midwest by choice, not circumstance. I have built a life based largely on core values and loosely on whimsy. It's that whimsy, though, that gets me in trouble every time!